Method of making tubular articles



(No `Model FlG.3.

FI'G.2.

'oi T. GAYLEY su R. s. GOURTMAN.

METHOD 0F MAKING TUBULAR ARTICLES.'

' Ll. midway/fem Patented Nov. 20, 1894.

NrTED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE.

LAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE 4UNITED BROOKLYN, NEw YORK( STATES PROJEOTILECOMPANY, OF

METHOD OF MAKING TUBU'LAR ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,597, dated November20, 1894.

Application filed August 25, 1892. Serial No. 444,149I (No specimens.)Patented in England November 23, 1891, No.

20,364;in France November 26, 1891, No. 217,684, and in Belgium November30, 189], No. 97,399.

' To all whom it may concern/ Be it known that we, CLAUD THORNTON CAYLEYand REUBEN SAMUEL COURTMAN, engineers, subjects of the Queen of GreatBritain, and residents of London, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Tubes or TubularVessels, (for which we have obtained patents in Great Britain, No.20,364, dated November 23, 1891; in France, No. 217,684, dated November26, 1891, and in Belgium,` No. 97,399, dated November 30, 1891,) ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the manufacture of tubular vessels or bottlesfor containing hydrogen, oxygen, and other gases, under pressure, andfor other uses; andsaid invention consists in the novel method 0fmanufacturing such vessels or bottles from a solid block of metal, ashereinafter described andl claimed.

In order that others skilled in the art may be able to understand and topractice our said invention, and to make the blank which constitutespart of the same, and produce the finished article therefrom We will nowdescribe the said processes and the products thereof in detail,reference being'had, for such purpose, to the accompanying drawings, inwhich-- Figure 1 is a view showing a solid block of metal, substantiallysuch asrthat used by us in the production Of a blank for a tubularvessel or bottle, suitable for holding oxygen,

hydrogen, or other gases, under pressure, or

for other uses, said blank being, also, adapted to the production of atube. Fig. 2 is aview of said block after it has been pressed to theshape of the bottom of the mold. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the blockafter it has been cupped, or hollowed, by the action of a punch. Fig. etis a sectional view" showing the same at the succeeding stage in theprocess of manufacture, the cupped or hollow block seen in Fig. 3 havingbeen drawn by one or more operations while heated nearly to the length,diameter and thickness of the finished article.

Fig. 5 shows the article described in Fig. 4'

"drel as shown.

it to be drawn through a die and over a 1nan- Fig. 6vis a sectional viewshowing the completed blank, formed from the partly completed blank seenin Fig. 4,

by, subjecting the latter to a process of cold.

drawing. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a bottle,'or tubular vessel,completely formed from the finished blank shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 showsone step in the process of manufacture of the finished article shown inFig. 7, whereby the end of the same is closed and formed. Figs. 9 and 10show dies used successively in that portion of the process illustratedin Fig. 8.

In carrying our said invention into practice, we take a solid block 1 ofiron, steel, or other suitable metal, of such dimensions as will givethe required weight to the finished blank, and heat the said block tosuch a degree as to render it moderately plastic. It is then placed in amold and pressed, hammered, or otherwise worked into the shape seen inFig. 2. The block is then removed from the mold described'and, whilestill retaining the heat imparted to it, or after reheating, should thisseem necessary, it is placed in a second mold and, by meansof a properpunch,jor die, or a series of the same, it is worked into the form of'ahollow cup, or vessel 2, shown in Fig. 3,

ja series of molds being employed, if necessary, for this purpose. Theinitial tabulation of the metal being thus effected, the cup 2 is placed-upon a mandrel of suitable dimensions and length and submitted to aprocess of hot drawing through dies of successively diminishing size, towhich the blank is subjected in proper order, being reheated as often asmay be necessary during this stage of the process of manufacture, inorder that the metal may be retained in a suitable plastic condition.When this hot-drawing process is concluded, having been accomplishedeither by the mechanism described, or by any other suitable means, theblank will have been brought sub,

stantiallyto the shapeseenin Fig. 4. The solid block of metal has nowbeen converted into cylindrical form having nearly the same diameter,length and thickness as the finished article, but it has not beenbrought to the form of the completed blank. If it is to be used inmanufacturing a tube, about four feet, or less, in length, the blank maybe finished by merely subjecting it to a'process of cold drawing bywhich it is reduced to the proper length and thickness, and brought tothe exact diameter required, thereby constituting a complete, finished,metallic blank, ready for use in the process of manufacture of thecomplete, iinished tubes, bottles, or tubular ves-` sels about to bedescribed. If, however, the tube,bottle or tubular vesselis to be ofgreater length than four feet, or thereabout, we can by known methodssubject the blank described above to the action of rolls, after havingpunched, cut, or otherwise removed its closed end and inserted amandrel,- said rolls having a series of grooves of diminishing size.After reducing it very nearly to the length, diameter and thickness itwill have when finished, it is preferably pickled, to remove the oxide.or scale, from its surface, is then subj ected to an annealing processand iinally finished by cold-drawing. By the latter pro'- cess we areenabled to reduce themetal to any required thickness, however slight,and we impart to it great strength, stiffness, and toughness. We may useforu this cold drawing process any known method, but we prefer thatillustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings. This method consists,substantially, in closing and swaging, or shaping the end 3 of the tubein such manner as'to form thereon a strong, prolonged neckor shank et,provided, at its extremity, with a knob, ball, enlargement, or othersuitable holding device 5. This device is placed within the grasp ofjaws 6, reciprocated by any suitable means. Within the tube we insert amandrel, or bar 7, having upon its end a ball, or enlargement 8, of suchsize as to impart the properinterior diameter to the tube. The exteriordiameter is imparted by means of a circular die 9, having its edgeconvex, or rounded, and lying in suitable position with relation to theinterior device 8. The cold drawing may be completed at a singleoperation, or it may b e effected by repeatedly'drawing the tube, thediameter of the die 9 and bulb or mandrel `being slightly diminished ateach operation. By this process we produce not only tubular blankssuitable for the manufacture ot bottles, or tubular vessels, capable ofholding gases under pressure, but we can also form tubing-sections ofany suitable, or ordinary length, diameter and thickness, having greatstrength, stiness and toughness, and ot substantial uniformitythroughout.

In the manufacture of blanks for the production of bottles, and-tubularvessels, for the uses mentioned, we operate upon a solid block of steel,or iron, by substantially the same method as that described until it isreduced tothe form shown in Fig. 6, the blank being of a length somewhatin excess of that erably by hydraulic pressure. vrecess 16 in each dieis successively approxiof the bottle, or tubular vessel, when the latteris nished. We then cut off the surplus length from the upper, or openend of the tube, and turn, or otherwise shape, the bottom or closed end,to bring it to the required shape and. thickness. The open end of theblank `is then heated and placed in a mold 10 (Fig. 8), in which theopen end of the blank is to be closed and its neck formed. At the lowerend of said mold is a block 12, to support the blank against the actionof the die, or dies, 13, 14 and 15, of which I may use one, two, three,or more. These dies, when more than one is used, operate successively,pref- The matrixmated to the complete or finished shape, until the lastis reached, which imparts the necessary form. The matrix-recess in`eachv die opens into a concentric bore 17 having a formadaptedto,receive4 and aid in forming the neck 17 of the bottle orvessel, this operation being completed by the use of a mandrel 18,having a reduced end 19, which is passed down through'the bore17 in thedie to form the `opening 20, in the neck, which is to recci-ve thevalve. l

It should be clearly understood that we base our invention upon theproduction of the tubular blank, the tube, or the bottle, or tubularvessel from a solid metal bar, in contradistinction to the use of aplate, or disk of meta-l, for asimilar purpose. It is upon thisdifference that we predicate the characteristics and qualities whichdistinguish our invention inthe market from similar articles produced byprocesses differing from our own.

What we claim as our invention is The process herein set forth for themanufacture of tubular vessels, consisting in hollowing out orinitiating a. tubular formation in a block of metal, hot drawing thesaid block of `metal through dies of successively diminishing size whileina suitably plastic condition, pickling and then cold drawing the same,closing one end of the blank, and shaping and partially closing theother end of the blank to form a neck having a valve opening,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto signed our names in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses. l

CLAUD T. CAYLEY. REUBEN SAMUEL COURTMAN.

Witnesses to the signature of the said Reu' ben Samuel Courtman:

WM. JNO. TENNANS, 45 Southampton Buildings, London.

,y W. M. HARRIS, 4 17 Gracechurch Street, London, E. 0.

Witnesses to the signature of Claud Thornton Cayley:

WILLIAM A. PORTER, L. H. GOULD.

IIO

IIS

